Electrically operated money changer



June 29, 1965 P. GAUSELMANN Er L 3,191,609

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MONEY CHANGER Filed Jan. 22, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 "////7/////l /ll/l/IY- 7 Fig.2

Fig.1

Jnvenfors:

PAUL GAUSELMANNJ KURT KUBE June 1965 P. GAUSELMANN ETAL 3 9 ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MONEY CHANGER Filed Jan. 22, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2- Unventdrs;

PAUL GAUSELMANN k KURT KUBE by: Ma.

June 29, 1965 P. GAUSELMANN El'Al,

EDBGTRICALLY OPERATED MONEY CHANGER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan; 22, 1962 Fig. 6

1 VII/IIIIIIA Jnveniors:

PAUL GAUSELMANN & KURT KUBE J1me 1 P. GAUSELMANN ETAL 3,191,609

ELEOTRICALLY OPERATED MONEY CHANGER Filed Jan. 22, 1962 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 b 69G d) Fig. 8 Unvemors:

' PAUL GA USEL MANNY & KURT KUBE United States Patent 16 Claims. (cl. 133-5 The invention relates to a money changer, and more particularly to an electrically operated moneychanger in which one of a plurality of possible combinations of the change to be given can be electrically preselected for each operation of the changer.

Such money changers. are used as change givers in automatic vending machines, at cash desksof self service shops and as pure money changers.

In a majority of the known money changers the lowermost coin in a coin stack is pushed from the stack by means of a slide which performs a to and fro reciprocating movement. An essential disadvantage of this form of changer is the necessity of providing a relatively high force for the operation of the slide, which as well as overcoming the friction which the column of coins exerts on the coin to be ejected, additionally must tension a spring which is strong enough to return the slide into its initial position against the frictional action of the column of COlnS.

An electrical money changer has been proposed which comprises a plurality of coin containers arranged in a circle, and in which the ejection of a coin is effected by a rotatable plate. .In this arrangement, however, only one fixedly set coin delivery program can be selected. A

"ice

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating one way of securing a magnetic ejection member; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 diagrammatically illustrate two further coin stack arrangements,

In a housing 1, which serves as a receiving member for coin containers 2, 2', 2" and so on, arranged in a circular array, a rotary part 3 is arranged which is driven by the motor 4 through a gear mechanism 24. The coin containers 2, 2', 2" preferably comprise transparent plastic tubes to which bottom pieces 5, 5', 5" are secured. The bottom piece of each tube is inserted in a bore of the housing 1 so as to be easily removable, and known means, for example indents, projections or the like are provided for ensuring on the one hand that each coin container has the correct position in its bore, and on the other hand that interchanging of the containers is prevented. The bottom piece 5 has an internal conical bore 6 so that an accurately dimensioned tube is not necessary for each container. The bottom pieces 5 are outwardly similar for all coin containers, and by the conical forma tion of the bore 6 it is possible to use container tubes 2 l l which differ in internal diameter from each other in steps variation is only possible by one or more repetitions of I the rotary plate movement which allows the total value of the delivered coins to be doubled or multiplied.

It is an object of the invention to provide amoney changer which, although of simple construction and occupying a small space, allows electrical preselection, before each operation of the changer, of a desired combination of the change coins, within the limits of the coin denominations of the individual coin containers.

The invention consists in an electrically operated money changer comprising a plurality of coin containers arranged in a closed path, for example in a circular path, the coin removal being effected by an electromagnetically operated carrier pin which is secured to a part movable underneath the coin containers in the said path or a'bout the centre of the circular path, the movable part being advantageous driven by an electric motor with a reduction gear so as to perform a complete revolution on each actuation of the money changer, the magnet being excited before the carrier pin passes into the range of one of the coin containers from which a coin is to be removed, whereby the carrier pin is brought into an engagement position with respect to the lowermost coin.

In order to make the invention clearly understood, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a general view of a money changer; FIG. 2 is a partial vertical sectional view therethrough to a largerscale;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the changer of FIG. 1, to a larger'scale and partly in section;

of three millimeters, so that it is possible to manage with a small number of tube sizes. The supporting surface 7 of the coin stack 8 is inclined towards a coin exit slit 9, as also is the lower side 11 of a bottom part 10 of the bottom piece. The bottom part 10 has a channel 12 for the passage of a carrier pin 13 which is arranged on a shaft 14 of a magnet -15. The magnet 15 is fixedly mounted in the rotatable part 3 and receives its current supply through to two sliding springs 16, 16' which are carried by an insulating member 17 which is likewise fixedly mounted on the rotatable part 3. The two sliding springs 16, 16' slide on concentric contact paths 18, 18'- which are provided on an insulating plate 19 as a so-tialled printed circuit. 'Advantageously the inner-lying contact path 18 is formed as a closed ring while the outer'contacts 18, the number of which is determined by the number of coin containers, have segment-like form.

When using the money changer in automatic vending machines, the control of the individual segments of the printed circuit may be effected by a kind of cross-bar distributor system, which enables the erector t-o preselect any desired change relation for the change coins with respect to the chutes in question. Such a selector arrangement is not however the subject of the invention.

1 In FIG. 2 the magnet 15 is shown in the excited condition, in which the carrier pin 13 assumes its highest position. The carrier pin 13 ends in a ball shaped head 20 which is sharp edged at its periphery, and at the region of its transition to the magnet shaft 14 is provided with a projection 21. On rotation ofthe rotary part 3 and FIGS. 4a, 4b and 4c are horizontal sectional views the excitation of the magnet 15, the carrier pin 13 passes into the channel 12 of the bottom part 10. The edge of the head 20 finally contacts the lowermost coin 22 approximately in the centre of its thickness. Up to this time the projection 21, which has at its upper side a chamfer correspondingto the inclination of the coin container bottom part 10, has reached the inclined surface 11 of the bottom part 10. The projection 21 now slides along the surface 11 so that the head 20 of the carrier pin 13 does not need to lift the coin stack 8. The lowermost coin is held against accidental sliding out from the coin container, by a'spring which is not shown in FIG. 2.

After the ejection of the lowermost coin 22, whichfalls into a coin collecting tray 23 (see FIG. 3) of the rotatable part 3, the projection 21 slides still further along the surface 11 until the carrier pin 13 has almost reached its end position. Shortly before reaching the same, the magnet 15 is switched off. By the cooperation between the inclined lower side 11 and the projection 21 it is necessarily achieved that the magnet plunger 14, after passing 3 a coin container, is pressed back into its initial position. This arrangement has the advantage, that in the event a jamming of the magnet plunger occurs, no coins can be ejected from the following coin containers without reexcitation of the magnet 15. If the carrier pin passes into the range of the next coin container and no coin is to be taken from this container, then the magnet remains unexcited and the carrier pin runs freely past the coin container, underneath the bottom part 10. A complete revolution of the rotary part 3 is allocated to each operation of the money changer. By means of the contact springs 16 and 16' sliding on the printed circuit 18, 18' of the insulating carrier 19, the voltage is applied to the magnet 15. The magnet 15'is energised in relation to which of the outer contact segments 18 is under voltage, thereby the relevant value coin is ejected. Thus all possibilities for the coin delivery can be combined.

By reason of the inclination of the bottom surface 7 it is possible to arrange the individual coin containers 2, 2', 2" alongside each other without intermediate spacing, so that the ejection of a coin from one con:

tainer can be effected practically underneath the adjacent.

container. In this manner a. compact construction of the money changer can be achieved.

Allowance for the very varied thicknesses of the coins to be ejected is effected by corresponding dimensioning of the thickness of the bottom parts 10 of the coin containers, and it is in this way easily possible, if required, to eject two or more coins simultaneously from one container. I

In FIG. 3, the housing 1, which forms the carrier for the coin containers, is shown in plan view, whereby the support surfaces 7, 7', 7" for the coin stacks can be seen, also the channels 12, 12, 12" for the transit of the carrier pin 13. On the coin exit side, the channels 12, 12, 12" are broadened into part circular openings 25, 25, 25" the radii of which are equal to or slightly greater than half of the diameter of the relevant coin.

The magnet 15 with the carrier pin 13 is arranged closely behind the coin collecting tray 23 taking the counclosed by a plate 32, which for example can be marginally inset. V

A pressure plate 33 is freely displaceably mounted on the rod 29, and in its lower side an elastic plate 34, for example of foam rubber, is inserted. A screw 36 inserted in a projection of the plate 33 extends through a slit 37 in the bore 30 of the rod 29 and forms the lower support for the spring 31. The upper end of the slit 37 is .broadened at each side into recesses 38, 38' (see FIG. 5a) which are of bayonet-catch form. If one or more coin containers are to be removed from the housing 1, the plate '33 is lifted against the force of the spring 31 to such an extent that the screw 36 abuts against the upper end of the slit 37. By a small right or left rotation, the plate can be arrested, and the coincontainers can be easily lifted from their carrier. The filling of the containers with coins can thus be effected outside the device in which the money changer is incorporated. It is thus avoided that coins fall into the device where they might jam movable partsand cause damage.

After the insertion of the filled coin container, the sequence is reversed, in that plate 33 is first turned a little and then lowered to contact the coin container.

In FIG. 6 another arrangement of the coin ejecting magnet 15 is shown.

It may happen thatfor example by reason of a bent coin in the coin container, a jamming occurs during its ejection which causes arresting of the rotatable part 3 and thus a blocking of the drive motor 4. In order to avoid that in such a case the entire device-is disrupted, the ejecting magnet is preferably yieldably arranged. For this purpose, a flange 39 of the magnet 15 is provided with a shaft 40 and tiltably mounted on the rotatable part ter-rotational-direction as a reference, which in the rest position of the rotatable part 3 lies in line with an exit opening 26 of the housing 1. On rotation of the part 3 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3, the outwardly directed opening of the coin collecting tray 23 is covered by the wall of the housing 1, so that the coins collected in the tray on rotation of the part 3, can pass out of the housing 1 only after ending of the complete revolution of the part 3. In order to enable a satisfactory sliding of the coins from the collecting tray, the inclined bottom surface of the coin collecting tray 23 may be spherically shaped.

In FIGS. 4a to 40 the process of coin ejection is shown in the individual phases.

The lowermost coin 22 is secured against unintentional sliding from the coin container by a spring 27, 27 which is guided in a recess 28, 28' of the bottom piece 5 .and the limbs of which engage the coin periphery. When the part 3 begins to rotate, the carrier pin 13 of the magnet 15 passes into the channel 12 and finally carries the coin 22 with it, the spring 27, 27' being tensioned. When the rear edge of the coin reaches the part circular recess 25 (FIG. 40), it can fall downwardly, but receives a forward motion by'the spring 27, 27' sliding along the periphery of the coin when relaxing. V

The upper closure of the money changer is shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 5a. The coin containers 2, 2' which preferably are made of a transparent plastic tube, have equal lengths and at their upper ends, in which the coins are inserted, have flange-like extensions. At the center of the circle formed by the array of coin' con tainers, a guide rod 29 'is arranged, which is fixedly mounted in the housing 1. A bore 30 carries a helical spring 31 and the opening of the bore 30 is upwardly 3, against the action of'a torsion spring 41 which urges the magnet against an abutment 42. When the head 20 of the carrier pin 13 engages against a firmly jammed coin, the magnet deviates in the further rotation of the part 3, in a manner shown in the dash dotted line, so that the carrier pin can pass the jammed coin container without damage. The coin ejection from the remaining coin containers is thus not influenced by disturbance at one of the coin containers. A

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the coin containers are arranged in a circular array. The invention is however not limited to such an embodiment and the coin containers may be arranged in other closed paths, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. -7 for an oval path and in FIG. 8for a closed path of still another shape. In such cases the magnet could be moved by a corresponding guide rail, a belt, a chain or the like.

Of course instead of coins, alternatively tokens such as rebate tokens, stamps, chips or like articles can be used.

Without further analysis, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, upon a study, of this disclosure, that this invention permits various modifications and alterations without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this'invention, and'therefore, such modifications and alterations are intended to be comprehended within the meaning, scope and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What we claim is: a j

1. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine, comprising in combination, a base, a plurality of coin containers supported on said base, said coin'containers being arranged in a closed path, carrying means operatively mounted in said base underneath said plurality of coin containers having a portion movable in a complementary closed path, electromagnetic actuating means supported on said portion of said carrying means, electric motor driving means operatively connected to said portion of said carrying means for driving the latter means and thereby moving said electromagnetic actuating means along said complementary closed path, and electric contacting means mounted on said carrying means for selectively connecting said electromagnetic actuating means to an electric power source.

2. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein each one of said plurality of coin containers includes an inclined bottom portion and a coin exit opening at the bottom of each container, and said inclined bottom portion extending toward said exit opening.

3. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 2, wherein said bottom portion includes two opposite inclined substantially parallel surfaces, one of said two surfaces forming the interior bottom surface of the coin container.

4. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 2, wherein said bottom portion is divided by a substantially arcu-ately shaped opening, said bottom portion also including a substantially semicircular opening adjacent to said arcua-tely shaped opening, the radius of said semicircular opening being slightly larger than the radius of a coin stored in the coin container corresponding to said bottom portion.

5. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set fort-h in claim 4, wherein said electromagnetic actuating means includes an electromagnet having an axially movable shaft, an enlarged head portion at the top end of said shaft and a collar underneath said head portion, the top surface of said collar forming a chamber which is parallel and opposite to the exterior undersurface of said bottom portion, said top surface of said collar sliding along said undersurface of said bottom portion when said electromagnetic actuating means are moved through said arcuately shaped opening. 1

6. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 4, wherein the thickness of said bottom portion is pre-selected in correlation with the thickness of one or more coins stored in the associated coin container.

7. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 4, including biasing means operatively mounted in each one of said plurality of coin containers, said biasing means retaining the bottom most coin of a stack of stored coins in position and impart-ing an ejecting motion to said bottom most coin after said coin has been moved a predetermined distance by said electromagnetic actuating means which traverse said arcuately shaped opening.

8. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of coin containers are removably mounted on said base.

9. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 8, wherein each one of said plurality of coin containers comprises a transparent plastic tube having a flange portion at the top end thereof and being supported in a metallic base portion.

'10. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 9, wherein said base portion is removably mounted on said base by means of a bayonet-type connection.

1 1. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 10, wherein said base portion has a truncated-conically shaped bore.

1 2. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 8, wherein said plurality of coin containers are of equal length and including coin container retention means operatively mounted on said base and biased against the top ends of said plurality of coin con tainers for holding said containers in place, said retention means being constructed and arranged to be lifted and retained in spaced relationship from the top ends of said plurality of equal length coin containers so that the latter may be removed.

13. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine, comprising in combination, a base, a plurality of coin containers supported on said base, said coin containers being arranged in a first circular path, carrying means rotatably mounted in said base underneath said plurality of coin containers, electromagnetic coin ejecting means mounted on said carrying means, electric motor driving means operatively connected to said carrying means for rotating the latter means and thereby moving said electromagnetic coin ejecting means along a second circular path parallel to said first circular path, and electric contacting means mounted on said carrying means for selectively connecting said electromagnetic coin ejecting means to an electric power source, whereby when said electromagnetic coin ejecting means are energised by said electric power source and are rotated along said circular path a preselected coin from stacks of coins stored in said coin containers is ejected therefrom.

:14. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 13, wherein said carrying means are cylindrically shaped and axially r-otatably mounted in said base, said carrying means also including chute means arranged in front of said electromagnetic coin ejecting means taking the rotational direction of movement of said carrying means as a reference.

15. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine as set forth in claim 13, wherein said electric contacting means comprise two contact members projecting from said carrying means, an electric printed circuit is arranged on a stationary platform opposite said carrying means, and said projecting members selectively contact said printed circuit.

16. An electrically operated coin dispensing machine 'as set forth in claim 13, wherein said electromagnetic actuating means is pivotally supported on said carrying means, and spring means on said carrying means biasing said electromagnetic actuating means into an operative position, the latter means being adapted to be pivoted against the action of said spring means in a counter-rotational direction with respect to the rotational movement of said carry-ing means so that when said electromagnetic actuating means encounters a jamming bottom coin of a stack of coins stored in a coin container, the electromagnetic actuating means slidably moving out of the way of said jamming coin and the rotational movement of said carrying means thereby can continue to move through its predetermined full cycle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 191,336 5/77 Guild 1-33-6 601,259 3/98 Jones 133-6 709,521 9/02 Stedman 133- 4 1,040,915 10/12 Zum Felde 211-49 1,093,052 4/14 Hoefer 133 4 1,172,108 2/16 Camden 133 2 1,356,379 10/20 McDermott. 2,414,567 1/47 Thorp 211-49 2,587,809 3/52 Arnett 133-5 5,615,454 10/52 Leese 1 33 5 2,720,636 10/55 Kosar 221-497 2,778,368 1/57 Jaskowiak 133-4 2,802,473 8/57 Keefe 13 3-2 2,947,444- 8/60 Taylor 1334 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,157,110 12/57 France.

SAMUEL COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ELECTRICALLY OPERATED COIN DISPENSING MACHINE, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A BASE, A PLURALITY OF COIN CONTAINERS SUPPORTED ON SAID BASE, SAID COIN CONTAINERS BEING ARRANGED IN A CLOSED PATH, CARRYING MEANS OPERATIVELY MOUNTED IN SAID BASE UNDERNEATH SAID PLURALITY OF COIN CONTAINERS HAVING A PORTION MOVABLE IN A COMPLEMENTARY CLOSED PATH, ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTUATING MEANS SUPPORTED ON SAID PORTION OF SAID CARRYING MEANS, ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID PORTION OF SAID CARRYING MEANS FOR DRIVING THE LATTER MEANS AND THEREBY MOVING SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTUATING MEANS ALONG SAID COMPLEMENTARY CLOSED PATH, AND ELECTRIC CONTACTING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID CARRYING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONNECTING SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTUATING MEANS TO AN ELECTRIC POWER SOURCE. 